Amos Milburn
Boogie piano master Amos Milburn was born in Houston, and he died there a short 52 years later. In between, he pounded out some of the most hellacious boogies of the postwar era, usually recording in Los Angeles for Aladdin Records and specializing in good-natured upbeat romps about booze and its effects (both positive and negative) that proved massive hits during the immediate pre-rock era.
The self-taught 88s ace made a name for himself as "the He-Man Martha Raye" around Houston before joining the Navy and seeing overseas battle action in World War II. When he came out of the service, Milburn played in various Lone Star niteries before meeting the woman whose efforts would catapult him to stardom.
Persistent manager Lola Anne Cullum reportedly barged into Aladdin boss Eddie Mesner's hospital room, toting a portable disc machine with Milburn's demo all cued up. The gambit worked -- Milburn signed with Aladdin in 1946. His first date included a thundering "Down the Road Apiece" that presaged the imminent rise of rock & roll. But Milburn was capable of subtler charms too, crooning mellow blues ballads in a Charles Brown-influenced style (the two would later become close friends, playing together frequently).
The first of Milburn's 19 Top Ten R&B smashes came in 1948 with his party classic "Chicken Shack Boogie," which paced the charts and anointed his band with a worthy name (the Aladdin Chickenshackers, natch). A velvet-smooth "Bewildered" displayed the cool after-hours side of Milburn's persona as it streaked up the charts later that year, but it was rollicking horn-driven material such as "Roomin' House Boogie" and "Sax Shack Boogie" that Milburn was renowned for. Milburn's rumbling 88s influenced a variety of famous artists, notably Fats Domino.
With the ascent of "Bad, Bad Whiskey" to the peak of the charts in 1950, Milburn embarked on a string of similarly boozy smashes: "Thinking and Drinking," "Let Me Go Home Whiskey," "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer" (an inebriating round John Lee Hooker apparently enjoyed!), and "Good Good Whiskey" (his last hit in 1954). Alcoholism later brought the pianist down hard, giving these numbers a grimly ironic twist in retrospect. Milburn's national profile rated a series of appearances on the Willie Bryant-hosted mid-'50s TV program Showtime at the Apollo (where he gave out with a blistering "Down the Road Apiece").
Aladdin stuck with Milburn long after the hits ceased, dispatching him to New Orleans in 1956 to record with the vaunted studio crew at Cosimo's. There he recut "Chicken Shack Boogie" in a manner so torrid that it's impossible to believe it didn't hit (tenor saxist Lee Allen and drummer Charles "Hungry" Williams blast with atomic power as Milburn happily grunts along with his pounding boogie piano solo). In 1957, he left Aladdin for good.
Milburn contributed a fine offering to the R&B Yuletide canon in 1960 with his swinging "Christmas (Comes but Once a Year)" for King. Berry Gordy gave him a comeback forum in 1962, issuing an album on Motown predominated by remakes of his old hits that doesn't deserve its extreme rarity today (even Little Stevie Wonder pitched in on harp for the sessions).
Nothing could jump start the pianist's fading career by then, though. His health deteriorated to the point where a string of strokes limited his mobility and his left leg was eventually amputated. Not too long after, one of the greatest pioneers in the history of R&B was dead.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
Similar artists
-
The King of Rhythm & Blues (Remastered)
Blues - Released by Master Tape Records on 17 Apr 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Down The Road Apiece -The Best Of Amos Milburn
Blues - Released by Capitol Records on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues, Barrelhouse & Boogie Woogie: The Best Of Amos Milburn 1946-55
Blues - Released by Capitol Records on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer
Blues - Released by Roll Bell Records on 1 Aug 1953
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bad Bad Whiskey
Jazz - Released by Dance Plant Records Inc on 12 Jul 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Please Come Home For Christmas / Christmas (Comes But Once A Year)
Christmas Music - Released by World Artists on 17 Oct 1960
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of the Aladdin Years 1946-57
R&B - Released by ACROBAT on 4 Dec 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blusey Gents
Jimmy Witherspoon, Joe Turner, Amos Milburn
Blues - Released by Music Manager on 28 Jul 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Let's Have A Party! (The Aladdin Recordings)
Blues - Released by Cherry Red Records on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Greatest Rhythm & Booze Collection
Blues - Released by Brownbeats Records on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amos Milburn - Music History
Soul - Released by Vintage Jukebox on 5 May 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vicious Vicious Vodka (Original Sound)
Blues - Released by Tsk Music on 4 Jul 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amos Milburn Rocks
Jazz - Released by Black Sheep Music on 11 Sep 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer
Pop - Released by Black Sheep Music on 12 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pioneers of Rhythm & Blues Volume 6
Soul - Released by Johnny Otis World LLC on 1 Apr 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rockin' And Drinkin' - Greatest Hits And More - Includes All The Chart Hits 1946 - 1961
Soul - Released by Jasmine Records on 30 Jul 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Motown Sessions, 1962-1964
R&B - Released by UNI - MOTOWN on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
The Very Best of Amos Milburn (Rerecorded)
Jazz - Released by Platinum Collection on 15 Nov 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -